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Historic, Archive Document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. aF590 .S23S93 1993 The Swedish Settlement Chequamegon National Forest Traces of America's Past mr^ES-Ssrsv [> Forest Service United States Department of Agriculture The Swedish Settleme The Gust Welin Homestead Beginning in 1902, Gust and Ida Welin homesteaded 160 acres in the Marengo Valley. Gust Welin was bom in Eriksburg, Vingabu, Sodermanland, Sweden in 1872. In addition to farming, Gust worked in logging camps and did road work. He was elected to several positions including Town of Grandview Supervisor, Justice, and Constable from 1913 to 1924. In 1933, he was appointed to Foreman of Unemploy¬ ment Relief Work, at a salary of S2.75 for an eight-hour day. As a thirteen year old girl, Ida Nelson Welin came to the United States in 1892 or 1893 with her widowed mother, sister Esther and brother Axel. She married Gust Welin in 1898. Ida, who was very tall, was nicknamed "Mountain Goat" because she could run up and down the valley. She was also noted for her homemaking skills and as a good neighbor. Gust and Ida kept 13 dairy cows, raised potatoes, rutaba¬ gas and hay. Every week they would take the cream which Ida had churned from the milk, to Grandview--a 10 mile walk over rough country roads. Gust Welin's original crude shelters were gradually replaced over time. The livestock bam was built in 1917. The date is inscribed in the northeast comer of the concrete founda¬ tion. The east half was sectioned into 13 stalls for dairy cows. The impression of the uprights used for the stall dividers are it in the Marengo River evident in several places along the concrete wall. A pipeline drained water from the springhouse to the bam. Gutters at the head of the stalls gave the cows access to the water. The first priority of any homesteader was sewing spring crops. Venison, grouse, berries, fish and other foodstuffs were stored for the long winter. Gust and Ida Welin probably lived in a temporary log cabin with a dirt floor for a few years until the fields were cleared and the crops could be relied upon. After a time, a proper house was built with stone founda¬ tions. The deeper part in the west side of this foundation was possibly a storage area under the kitchen floor. The concrete foundation on the east side may have been a later addition. The springhouse is the only structure that is still intact on the Welin Homestead. Built of concrete, the springhouse protects the source of the spring which still seeps today. This provided a cool storage area in the hot summers for their milk. Water pipes at one time ran from the springhouse to the house and bam. A root cellar can be found on the west side of the farmstead. The cellar was constructed by scooping out the side of the hill and piling the earth to form the walls. A wooden roof and door secured the storage area. Earthen walls kept a constant temperature to sustain preserved foods such as apples and potatoes. Gust and Ida Welin reading with a neighbor. Valley _ The Gust Welin Homestead The Green Mountain School In 1909, Gust Welin donated an acre of his farm for a one-room schoolhouse, named after the low hill where it is located. Children up to three miles away attended. Families were mostly Swedish-the Linds, Hogstroms, Bergmans-and education was seen as a path to success in the New World. Classes were small, 10 to 20 children, ages six to 16. School teachers were unmarried young women and boarded with the Welin family. The school’s bell was brought by railroad to Grandview, then by horse and buggy to the Green Mountain School with the bell clanging all the way. The bell is now in the Birch Lake Trinity Luthem Church. Green Mountain School closed in 1923. All that remains today is the stone foundation and the clearing where the children played. Children from the Lind, Bergman, Welin, Swenson, and Levine families at the Green Mountain School. The Calvin Beyzanson Homestead A Swedish bachelor farmer who worked in the logging camps lived here. Little is known about Calvin Beyzanson except his nickname, Black Cal. Only the stone foundations of where he used to live and work remain. There is a story reported about Black Cal. When he was dancing with another local settler, Mrs. Sophie Levine, Levine lost the pipe she w'as smoking down Beyzanson’s shirt, causing a great deal of consternation on his part! The rock pile in the clearing represents substantial time and human labor spent over the years of trying to improve the soil to yield more edible crops. Black Cal died in his cabin around 1928 and the farm was abandoned. Swedish Immigrants Welcome to the Swedish Settlement. This brochure is a self -guided tour of the remains of three historic sites in the Marengo River Valley. You can start at either end of the trail without detracting from the experience. The points of interest are signed along the way and correspond to descriptions in this brochure. The entire tour is four and a half miles, with some steep climbs. Visitors should allow three hours for the entire tour. Swedish immigrants began settling this valley in the 1880's. Many had left their homeland in Sweden in search of a better life in America. The rolling hills of the Marengo River Valley were a welcome sight to these immigrants as it reminded them of the homeland they had left behind. Towns were far apart and many immigrants arrived ahead of the railroad. Travelling north on foot, they followed the cleared railroad grade. By 1882, the railroad reached Grandview, Wisconsin, opening up the Marengo A social gathering at Gust and Ida Welil i the Marengo Valley River Valley frontier to more settlers. Basic subsistence was the priority for the first few years. Homes were barely more than walls and a roof. Effort was put into clearing fields, planting crops and hunting game and fish. Potatoes were usually the first crop, followed by field com (the multi-colored variety) along with small plots of vegetables. Native plant foods like maple syrup, wild honey, and berries were also gathered. Grass hay was harvested for winter fodder and most settlers acquired livestock and an oxen or horse for hauling and plowing. The marginal glacial soils of the Marengo River Valley prevented any great prosperity through agriculture. Opportunities in road building, construction and lumbering often provided a better chance at success and higher wages. Husbands who took these jobs left the full burden of running the farm and caring for the children to their wives for four to six months at a time. homestead in the Marengo River Valley. The Swedish Settlemeil Farm Life in the Early Years Many of the early settlers acquired their property from the federal government under the Homestead Act of 1862. To qualify for this, the settler had to guarantee to settle the land for five years, build a house and bam and make an attempt to farm. Clearing the land proved to be an arduous task. Settlers sometimes resorted to dynamite to loosen large stumps. Many hours were spent grubbing and hoeing the unforgiving rocky, glacial terrain with nothing more than an axe, grub hoe and shovel. Farming started on a small scale at first, with a few cows and a small garden. As more land was cleared, they expanded their livestock, including chickens and sheep for wool. Even¬ tually they expanded their crops and a horse or oxen was used to pull the plow and harrows used for tilling the soil. During the winter, the men usually went to live and work in the logging camps leaving the farm duties and responsibili¬ ties to the women. A typical day for the women included rising around four in the morning, preparing breakfast and the rest of the day's meals, doing houshold and farm chores, storing food and sewing, knitting and washing clothes for the family. Fritz Peterson, Axel Welin, George Waynert, Gunnar Lanning, Victor Johnson, and "Papa" Erickson at an afternoon social.